U2 360 in Chicago! Opening Night of the North American Tour

Words are hard to come by when describing the incredible concert that we had the pleasure of witnessing on Sept. 12 in the heart of the USA - Chicago, IL on Soldier Field. It was a thrill to finally see the band U2 and be honored by their love of music, love of their fans, and love for the world. I'll post some pics shortly but here's the set list which was simply perfect. There are few songs that I would have added but a perfect mix of albums & an amazing re-creation of their latest album!

U2 has been a band that I've always enjoyed but fell in love with during the Joshua Tree era, and this love was reignited for Achtung Baby (still my favorite U2 album). It took me awhile to get into Zooropa & Pop and so didn't end up seeing them when they played Winnipeg (a huge regret) but I actually really enjoy both of those albums now. I enjoyed All That You Can't Leave Behind & Vertigo but I really like where they are exploring musically now and I'm hoping their next album will continue to push the envelope.

1 Breathe
2 No Line on the Horizon
3 Get On Your Boots
4 Magnificent
5 Beautiful Day/Blackbird (Beatles snippet)
6 Elevation
7 I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For/Stand By Me (Ben E. King snippet)
8 Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
9 Unknown Caller
10 The Unforgettable Fire
11 City Of Blinding Lights
12 Vertigo
13 I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
14 Sunday Bloody Sunday/Oliver's Army (Elvis Costello snippet)
15 Pride (In The Name Of Love)
16 MLK
17 Walk On/You'll Never Walk Alone (snippet)
18 Where The Streets Have No Name

Encore
19 One
20 Bad/40 (snippet)

Second encore
21 Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
22 With Or Without You
23 Moment of Surrender

50 Things Being Destroyed by the Internet

Matthew Moore of The Daily Telegraph has a list of fifty technological or cultural features being destroyed by the Internet. Here's the link to the article and here are a few samples. What would you add to the list?

3) Listening to an album all the way through
The single is one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the internet – a development which can be looked at in two ways. There's no longer any need to endure eight tracks of filler for a couple of decent tunes, but will "album albums" like Radiohead's Amnesiac get the widespread hearing they deserve?

13) Memory
When almost any fact, no matter how obscure, can be dug up within seconds through Google and Wikipedia, there is less value attached to the "mere" storage and retrieval of knowledge. What becomes important is how you use it – the internet age rewards creativity.

22) Enforceable copyright
The record companies, film studios and news agencies are fighting back, but can the floodgates ever be closed?…

Social Media

I used to teach a course called Communications at the college I work at - if I still were - this would be my opening video. Welcome to a world of social media! It has its own interpersonal issues, strengths, weaknesses and it literally is changing the way we communicate, the way we relate, the way we even life our lives.

Onward

I'm not much of a runner - at least not long-distance. My claim to fame in junior high was sprinting - especially the 200M and I did okay in the 100m. I witnessed the incredible 200m sprint record broken by the Jamaican "Insane" Bolt just this afternoon - 19:19 - WOW. My sprinting & running now is more about keeping up with my kids on the playground or at the park. But I still love pushing it on my mountain or road bike - there is nothing quite like sprinting up a hill or coasting down into a valley - the rush, the speed, the endorphins and torrent of blood flowing through your veins giving you a buzz. I like the mental aspect of adventure sports as well - it's almost like a moving chess board at times - and sometimes you take a calculated risk and hope it works out.

I came across this Nike-sponsored video on you-tube and I love the push of the song - Onward! Onward & upward I run. This semester is almost upon me and I'm ready to put my feet into the blocks and sprint those 12 or so weeks away but I want to enjoy the race - not just the finish. In fact, I want to see beyond the blur - I want to see detail, I want to see the beauty of it all! Enjoy! Live life to the fullest!

Cooling Off..

Well with temps finally nearing what they should be this time of year I thought it appropriate to share this inspiring water slide video - enjoy!

Global Cooling?

Interesting article on the global cooling we've been experiencing the last 11 years. Obviously the article isn't saying that we shouldn't do our part in protecting our planet but still very interesting how our climate seems to be doing the opposite of what the global warming advocates are saying will happen. Planet earth may survive despite what we've done to it as humans...either it is an incredible adaptation or science may need a new theory to get government grants for.

As an academic - I've always thought it important to look at all the angles/perspectives on a issue and I read a book by Bjørn Lomborg a few years ago entitled The Skeptical Environmentalist and it definitely captures another side to the argument. He believes that Global Warming is a reality and we should do something about it but that perhaps there is a smarter way of dealing with it.

He suggest that, "....we focus on the smartest solutions to the problems that the world faces, whether we're dealing with climate change, communicable diseases, malnutrition, agricultural subsidies, or anything else. Lomborg finds that the smartest way to tackle global warming is to invest heavily in R&D in non-carbon emitting technologies, which will enable everyone to switch over to cheaper-than-fossil-fuel technologies sooner and thus dramatically reduce the 21st century emissions. Specifically, he suggests a ten-fold increase in R&D in non-CO2 -emitting energy technologies like solar, wind, carbon capture, fusion, fission, energy conservation etc..."

Here's a little quote that urges us to check out his latest book Cool It from his website:

Bjorn Lomborg argues that many of the elaborate and expensive actions now being considered to stop global warming will cost hundreds of billions of dollars, are often based on emotional rather than strictly scientific assumptions, and may very well have little impact on the world's temperature for hundreds of years. Rather than starting with the most radical procedures, Lomborg argues that we should first focus our resources on more immediate concerns, such as fighting malaria and HIV/AIDS and assuring and maintaining a safe, fresh water supply-which can be addressed at a fraction of the cost and save millions of lives within our lifetime. He asks why the debate over climate change has stifled rational dialogue and killed meaningful dissent.
Lomborg presents us with a second generation of thinking on global warming that believes panic is neither warranted nor a constructive place from which to deal with any of humanity's problems, not just global warming. Cool It promises to be one of the most talked about and influential books of our time.

Anyways - apparently the forecast continues for cool temps, strong chance of rain for the rest of the summer...I may just have to travel where some Global Warming is actually taking place!

How Do You Spend Your Day?

Well - I'm back at work...sort of. I actually spent a good chunk of the day preparing for my sabbatical by applying for passports for our kids - so other than doing some reading, I spent a good bit of my day standing in line. Read this article and the accompanying chart to see how different groups spend their day - very interesting results based on age, gender, employment status, & ethnic groups. Unfortunately it isn't based on Canadian statistics but I imagine we are not that far off from our American cousins - although I think we have a better employment rate right now. Apparently 1 in 10 Americans are not employed - something not seen in 27 years.

So how much time do you spend during your day sleeping, eating, socializing, working, thinking, watching TV & movies, etc. ???

Youth & Stupidity

Radio Interview & Blog Merge

So I finally merged my old explore play blog with my musings blog - and they got married! I'm glad Blogger finally got that feature figured out.

So post-Coldplay recap - my voice is a little strained & still in morning deep-tonality - perfect for a radio interview right. Anyways the local radio station needed a concert review of the show so I shared a couple highlights and I think it went well - it aired at 8:40am and my kids got to hear it - so they were stoked! Of course my daughter Chelsea reminded me that her friends' dad was on the radio everyday and that was his job. :) We actually have a number of friends involved in radio. Honestly - I play my own mixes much more often than listening to radio stations - I just like my mixes right? But hearing local news & talk radio has value don't get me wrong.

Hmm...next concert just around the corner and then I head to Texas for a week. Hot! Hot! Hot! We finally got the sun & the heat + 28 degrees yesterday and the forecast looks great for the week - prep for the deep south I guess!